Gnuplot

Infobox Software
name = gnuplot



caption = 3D rendering of an ellipsoid by gnuplot
developer =
released =
frequently_updated = yes
latest_preview_version = Through CVS
programming language = C
platform = Cross-platform
language =
status = Active
genre = Plotting
license = Own licence
website = [http://www.gnuplot.info/ http://www.gnuplot.info/]

gnuplot is a command-line program that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions and data. The program runs on all major computers and operating systems (Linux, UNIX, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X...). It is a program with a fairly long history, dating back to 1986. This software is not distributed under GPL license, opting for its own open source license instead.

gnuplot can produce output directly on screen, or in many formats of graphics files, including PNG, EPS, SVG, JPEG and many others. It is also capable of producing LaTeX code that can be included directly in LaTeX documents, making use of LaTeX's fonts and powerful formulae abilities. The program can be used both interactively and in batch mode using scripts. For an example script and its output, see .

gnuplot is used as the plotting engine of GNU Octave, Maxima and gretl, and it can be used from various scripting languages, including Perl (via CPAN), Python (via [http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net/ Gnuplot-py] and SAGE), Ruby (via [http://rgnuplot.sourceforge.net rgnuplot] ) and Smalltalk (Squeak and GNU Smalltalk). gnuplot is programmed in C.

License

Despite gnuplot’s name, it is not part of or related to the GNU system (hence the decision to use a lowercase 'g') and it is not distributed under the GPL. However some GNU packages do use gnuplot.

The title of this program was originally chosen to avoid conflicts with a program called “newplot,” and was originally a compromise between “llamaplot” and “nplot.” [ [http://www.gnuplot.info/faq/faq.html#SECTION00032000000000000000 Gnuplot FAQ ] ]

The program is distributed under a license which permits copying and modification of the source code. However, modified versions are only allowed to be distributed as patch files.

ee also

*qtiplot
*SciDAVis
*MPSolveselfref
* |

References

External links

* [http://www.gnuplot.info/ gnuplot Central] contains links to the FAQ and to download locations
* [http://gnuplot.sourceforge.net/demo_4.2/ gnuplot demo plots]
* [http://t16web.lanl.gov/Kawano/gnuplot/index-e.html Not so frequently asked questions] about gnuplot (various tips).
* [http://www.manning.com/janert Gnuplot in Action] The book on gnuplot: tutorial, best practices, advanced uses, command and option reference.
* [http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-gnuplot/ Visualize your data with gnuplot] — IBM tutorial
* [http://www.cs.unc.edu/~jeffay/dirt/FAQ/gnuplot.html Gnuplot Tips] — mouse command reference
* [http://www.sci.muni.cz/~mikulik/gnuplot.html P. Mikulik’s tutorial]
* [http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/07/mustpaks/howto.php?doc=histogram Script for making histograms in Gnuplot]
*
* [http://cheminfo.informatics.indiana.edu/~rguha/code/cc++/ C++ - Programming Interface] A C++ programming interface to gnuplot.